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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe\nprogress and goals of the IREM were presented by Ver\u00f3nica Zavala, manager of\nthe IDB’s department for the countries of Central America, Haiti, Mexico, Panama\nand the Dominican Republic. \u201cAlong with various strategic partners from the\npublic and private sectors, we have built the Regional Initiative to Eliminate\nMalaria by drawing on the experience we gained with the Mesoamerica Health\nInitiative. This has made it possible in the past six years to provide quality\nhealth care to more than 1.8 million women and children with the implementation\nof an innovative resultsbased financing model. With the IREM, we are trying to\neradicate the danger of catching malaria for those 18 million people who live\nin the active breaks areas,\u201d said Zavala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zavala was\naccompanied at the presentation by Diana Measham, a senior officer of the\nmalaria program of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Annelise Hirschmann,\nregional manager for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Global Fund; and\nJuan Manuel Sotelo, coordinator of the Central America program at the Panamerican\nHealth Organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every year\nnearly 80,000 people catch malaria in the Mesoamerica region and an estimated\n50 million are at risk. Between 2000 and 2015 the countries of Mesoamerica reduced\nthe number of cases of malaria by 90%. However, since then progress has leveled\noff and there have even been increases in the number of cases detected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For this\nreason, in early 2019 the IDB helped create a public-private alliance that has\nalready committed $102.5 million to finance the work of the IREM. The alliance\ncomprises the IDB; the governments of the countries of Central America, Mexico,\nColombia and the Dominican Republic; the Carlos Slim Foundation; the Bill &\nMelinda Gates Foundation; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria;\nthe Panamerican Health Organization; the Council of Ministers of Health of\nCentral America (COMISCA); the Clinton Health Access Initiative(CHAI); and the Mesoamerica\nIntegration and Development Project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"